Existing Users

Background Info

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review the decision made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to close down Inverness Fire Service Control Room/Centre. We the undersigned believe not only will this be a loss of careers to many but this also will put many lives at direct risk, through the loss of local knowledge that can not be replicated by computers or persons elsewhere.

The Highlands & Islands of Scotland are a unique geographical area, with a mountainous terrain and landmass with hundreds of miles of extremely remote coastline, the area involved covers a landmass larger than Belgium.

The main route through here is the notorious A9, and our communities are far and wide and each fire station and retained fire station are very diverse in its requirements.

The Inverness Control Room provides us with a unique understanding and knowledge of the areas and communities they serve, the regions communties have one of the largest range of dialects anywhere in the UK. We also have many native Gaelic speakers, who also have unique dialects. Many roads and house names throughout the region are in Gaelic encompassing unique spellings and phonetics. Its is essential therefore that the people serving this area, know and live here,they have an unequivocally unique empathy for the areas they are providing cover for.

The communities of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland were never consulted before or during discussions made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to close the Inverness Fire Service Control Centre. We are calling on the Scottish Parliment to urge the Scottish Govenment not only to review this decision, but to overturn it in full.